What Dreams May Come A HtLj Xena crossover by Riel
by Gabrielle Baer
Summary: Hercules is ready to go all out against his Olympic enemies. His friends, Iolaus, Gabrielle and Xena are along for the fight, worried what the demigod is letting himself in for. They're right.
1. Chapter 1

Kind readers,

I could make all sorts of excuses for this fic, but in fact, I'm still rather proud of it, as it was my first HtLj/XWP crossover  
story. I wrote it in collaboration with a dear friend, Crystl, many, many moons ago. She and I put months of effort into it, emailing

and talking back and forth. She made sure I got Gabrielle and Callisto just right. I was writing Iolaus and Hercules into a story

for the first time here, too.

If this fic fit into PRPs time line, it would be sometime not long after Top God and Reunions.

One thing I know you're going to catch right away is Iolaus calling Gabrielle 'Gabby' as Joxer did. It simply felt right in the context  
of this story.

I hope you will enjoy it. Crystl and I meant it to show a different side of Hercules than the constantly upbeat 'big guy' on the series,  
not counting of course his feuds with Hera and Ares.

Thanx  
Rielle

**Prologue What Dreams May Come, by Rielle**

Hercules walked through long, grey halls, where the walls seemed  
built of blocks of pearly-gray marble only a Titan or two could lift.  
Curtains and hangings as long as the walls were high clouded  
everything in twilight's shadings seemed made of layers of  
translucent dusk colored silk. Worse, the halls and stairways and  
courts he wandered in were puzzle pieces, cutting off abruptly in one  
direction or another, giving no access where there had been one an  
instant before. Frustrated, he strode on, and on, hearing voices, and  
sometimes managing to glimpses of other denizens of what felt more  
and more like some kind of prison.

At first both the voices and the forms were indistinct, muffled as if  
too far away for him to discern. But as the demigod walked on, always  
it seemed through the same grey halls and staircases and courtyards,  
he began to recognize first voices, than people, Cheiron, his centaur  
teacher tried to catch his breath, coughing and hacking as he  
struggled to ask Hercules' help. Nemesis defied Hera's wrath out of  
her love for him. Hippolyta, the beautiful Amazon queen struggled  
with the same dilemma, becoming his lover instead of his enemy. All  
of these things seemed to be happening all at once, driving the son  
of Zeus to reach for the friend or lover he saw in need of his help,  
his strength, his love. And each time he reached out, the silken  
hangings turned in the blink of an eye into marble blocks set more  
cleanly one upon another than any human masonry could ever devise.

He literally could not reach any of the people he heard, and all were  
calling out for his aid. But the voice Hercules heard most clearly  
now was Iolaus', the hunter who had grown to be more than his  
brother, his comrade or his friend. Finding in Iolaus' clear gaze the  
love and serenity he needed so badly, Hercules had sworn a hundred  
times he would never disappoint Iolaus, again. He would never leave  
him stranded, never take him for granted, and never neglect Iolaus again.  
So now the chill of the grey halls went through Hercules like a  
spearhead made of Hephaetus' grey metal. He could hear Iolaus' warm,  
carrying voice everywhere he turned, but he could not see the hunter  
anywhere. And now the other shapes of pain and struggle and death  
he'd seen drove Hercules on through those halls as quickly as their  
twists and turns would allow.

But now more voices came to Hercules. And each of these was more  
heartbreaking than the last, and each scene he saw, more devastating.  
He saw his young friends dying in needless wars, his mother  
struggling with loneliness and the intermittent affections of a god,  
his half siblings, the Olympians, scorning his care for human family  
and friends. He heard his children's laughing voices turned to  
shrieks of fear and pain, and then cut off, forever, because Hera  
hated their father. He heard and saw, before closing his eyes tight  
against the view, his wife Deianeira dying in horror and regret with  
their sons, Clonus and Aeson and their tiny daughter Ilaia. He saw  
Serena, who gave up her own immortality and so much more to be with  
him, brutally killed out of Ares' spite and jealousy. And he saw  
Xena, who had come so far out of her own darkness and fear, only to  
be cast near the edge of death by the god of war's unending thirst  
for power and for revenge.

He could still hear Iolaus, his voice but not his words, and there  
wasn't any pain or fear in the hunter's voice. But the normally  
cheery tone wasn't there, either. Iolaus was apparently having a  
conversation he'd just as soon not, and considering how much Iolaus  
liked the sound of his own voice, that was enough to signal a  
problem. Finally, Hercules heard what Iolaus was saying, and there  
was no mistaking there was trouble. The hunter hated bargaining. When  
younger he'd stolen food rather than try to negotiate the price of a  
loaf of bread or sausage or fruit pie. But now Iolaus was doing just  
that, quibbling.

"You really don't need to do this, you know." Hercules heard his friend saying.

"There's always another way to handle these things. For instance, wouldn't you feel better if

we both just admitted that wasn't the best way the matter could have been handled?"

Hercules heard no response at all, which only made him more concerned  
who Iolaus might be dealing with. "Look, things don't always work out  
the way we want, do they?" Iolaus asked. "And maybe you should have  
known the past can't be changed. I wasn't sure of that, myself. I  
only knew the big guy would take the same chance for me, if he  
thought the world would be changed like that for lack of one  
scapegrace wandering hunter. After all, Callisto, even you wouldn't  
want to see Xena become that Conqueror or whatever she was. . . would  
you?"

Callisto! Hercules thought, running now in the direction he most  
clearly heard Iolaus' voice. She's sworn to kill him for ruining her  
plans in the past! "Iolaus, stall her, trick her, hide from her, I'm  
on my way!" The son of Zeus normally could run faster and farther at  
a stretch than a chariot's team. But now, now when he was most  
desperate to reach his brother, his friend and lover, he could barely  
move his legs against the resisting air. He felt as if he were half  
encased in one of the Titan-sized marble blocks.

"Iolaus! Run! Run from her! Iolaus! I can't reach you, get  
away . . .Gods, please, get him away from her! Please, please,  
please, not again! Not again! Not Again!"

Now, still unable to move any closer, Hercules saw the hunter facing down the mad goddess.

Seeing Hercules, Iolaus seemed suddenly sure nothing could go wrong and grinned brightly.

Watching the demigod, sunnily unaware that Hercules could get no closer than a few arms'

lengths, Iolaus waved to his friend. And in that instant, under his upraised arm,

Callisto brought her sword down with every ounce of insane strength in her frame.

Iolaus, with hardly time to look surprised, much less pained by the blow,

fell at her feet, his head lolling sickly to one side, his bright eyes clouding in death.

As Hercules gave a guttural howl, Iolaus died, and Callisto turned to blow a kiss to the demigod,

before she disappeared

"Iolaus! No!" Hercules cried out, and sat up staring at the campsite  
in a daze. He was shaking and drenched in a freezing sweat at the  
same time, feeling dizzy, almost nauseated. Forcing himself to look  
carefully around himself and his bedroll, he found another curled up  
figure under a heap of covers. Reaching gingerly, very much afraid of  
what he might find, Hercules pulled back the topmost layer of woven  
bedclothes. A golden head of hair, curiously peaceful features and a  
jutting chin appeared, attached to a strong neck, a wiry torso and  
all the rest of the strong, hunter's body that moved rhythmically in  
its sleep, just as it should, emitting all the usual sounds,  
including a deep snoring Hercules professed to hate.

"By the gods, it was a dream. No it was a nightmare!" Hercules  
realized, pulling a very surprised hunter into his arms with  
unconcealed joy.

"Uh, Herc?" Iolaus muttered sleepily into Hercules' shoulder.

Reluctantly, the demigod lay Iolaus back onto his bedroll.  
"Go on back to sleep, Iolaus. I'm going for a walk." Iolaus nodded,  
laid his head down and was asleep again in moments. Seeing that,  
Hercules stood up quietly and left the camp.


	2. Chapter 2

**Part Two **

Behind his back a familiar voice asked: "Let me guess, Ares, right?"  
Xena walked around to face him.

"I can't deal with this anymore, Xena. This has got to stop."

"I have to admit, I'm fairly tired of it, myself." The warrior  
agreed, keeping a very deliberate calm. "So what were you planning?  
Toppling another rock slide, finding another hole to throw them into  
that might hold either Ares or Callisto or both for oh, five minutes?"  
Just as deliberately, Hercules answered her. "I was thinking  
something a little more permanent."

The warrior regarded him with one eyebrow rising. "What are you  
saying? I thought the gods had a rule against killing each other, and  
against killing you, thanks to Zeus. Doesn't that apply to you, too?"

"I'm saying that if I have to pay with my life to end this  
nightmare, I will. Because then everyone I love will be safe." The  
son of Zeus replied, bitterly, and turned his face away.

"Hercules," Xena began, "this is insane. **The world needs you.** . . so  
do the people you claim you are doing this for. Do you think this is  
what Iolaus wants? You think this is what I want? Believe me, I know  
how you feel."

"Do you? Do you know how it feels when every single time you give a  
dinar about someone, its like painting a target on their back?"

"Yes, I do. Its why I gave Solan up, and even then . . ." Xena fell  
silent, and he looked at her face again, where only the slightest  
sheen of unshed tears revealed what she didn't say.

"Then you have to understand, Xena. Yes, this is a kind of madness.  
But it's the only answer I can find to all that other madness. I'm the  
son of Zeus, but I couldn't protect my own family. I'm half a god,  
but I couldn't protect Serena because I gave that up to be with her.  
It was Iolaus, not me, who saved my mother's life, and mine. It was  
you, Xena, who got me out of trouble when I thought I had gone mad.  
Ah well, lets not go there . . . ."

"Hercules, listen to me, please. You can't let them do this to you.  
You can't let them destroy you."

"That's not the choice I'm being offered here, Xena. Don't you see?  
Its either they destroy me and everyone I love, or I destroy them.  
I can't see anything else to choose from."

"We always have a choice." Xena said with a slight smile. "Aren't you  
the one who taught me that?"

"Don't give up? Is that what I'm doing now?"

"Well, isn't it?"

"It's blasted tempting sometimes. I'll say that much. Right now I  
don't know which way to step, what way to turn. Right now I don't  
know what in Tartarus to do except strike back! Ares must be loving  
it!"

"Then don't let him win, damn it!" the warrior woman exclaimed. "He  
and Callisto can both rot, for all I care. But I can't stand what  
this is doing to you. Don't let them turn you into something you're  
not."

"What in Tartarus am I, Xena? A half breed, a freak of nature, an  
aberration?"

She shook her dark head no, and hugged the demigod. "A good man, in a  
lot of pain."

"I can't argue with you there." Hercules responded, very  
quietly.

"Then don't." Xena smiled.

"But I have to do this, Xena. I'm sorry."

The warrior woman looked startled for a moment. "Then at least let me  
help you. Don't try to do this alone, please."

"Gods, woman! I knew you were stubborn but . . ."

Xena shook her head. "No, I just don't want to lose someone else I  
love, either."

Hercules stared at his companion but decided it was better not to  
make a verbal response to what she'd said. It was certainly not  
something he was used to hearing from the warrior.

Xena laughed at him, and at herself and said: "Its all Gabrielle's  
fault. She thinks it's a good thing to tell people how we feel about  
them. Guess it's rubbing off on me."


	3. Chapter 3

**Part Three******

Next evening, at an inn on the road to Thebes:  
"That's it, I've had it!" Hercules, son of Zeus and Alcmene declared,  
striking an ax so fiercely into a log that the axe head flew one way  
and the handle another. He couldn't concentrate on even the simplest  
tasks. He couldn't distract himself with even the most complicated  
plans.

He couldn't get the nightmare-image out of his mind of Xena, the strongest woman

he'd ever known, lying helpless, in danger of her life because of Ares' rage

for power. He couldn't shake the chill he'd felt, hearing Callisto's threats on

Iolaus' life. "Enough is enough!"

"Enough what? And what are you going to do about it?" Iolaus handed  
the aforementioned item to his closest friend with a lopsided grin.

"I'm going to put a stop to Ares' troublemaking and Callisto's  
threats." the demigod answered, with no answering smile. "They have  
to be stopped, Iolaus. Permanently."

"And you, of course, have to be the one to kill them?" Xena asked,  
walking up to Hercules. Her tone was customarily casual. Her deep  
blue gaze, that Hercules loved so much to find fixed on him was  
filled with concern.

" Xena, you and I already talked about this. None of the other  
Olympians or immortals will lift a finger. They can't interfere with  
the problems of mere mortals, you know." Hercules frowned at the  
warrior, recalling how he'd seen her in his near constant nightmares

 beaten and near death because she wouldn't give Ares want he wanted.

"So, you're going after both of them?" Gabrielle bluntly challenged  
Hercules, joining the other two at his side. "Alone? At the same  
time? That's crazy, Hercules. No, that's suicidal." Her bright green  
eyes flashed fire at the demigod.

"If I have to, I will."

"Well, Gabby's right, you can't go alone. In fact, I say we all go on  
this particular immortal-hunting-trip, or none of us go at all."  
Iolaus insisted. "Zeus or no Zeus, Ares is obsessed with getting that  
dagger, Herc. He knows you hid it. He's always wanted to kill you.  
Callisto wants to kill me, and anyone else who gets in her way,  
pretty much. Nothing has happened to change that."

"Yes, something has happened. Not to Callisto, not to Ares, to me. I  
always accepted the Olympians' rules against interfering with each  
other. But now I see that it only frees them to go on attacking  
humans; humans they hate, humans they profess to love, even humans  
they don't know at all." Hercules sighed deeply. Even his closest  
allies seemed unconvinced by what he was saying.

"But how is that your problem?" Xena asked, her tone still quiet,  
as she put one staying hand on his arm.

"As far as the other gods and immortals, it isn't my problem,  
Xena." the son of Zeus replied honestly. "Although I've tried to do  
what I can where I can. I'm not crazy enough to think I could face  
down all the Olympians.

But Callisto wants to kill Iolaus. I can't allow that. And Ares would just

as soon both you and Gabrielle were dead, if that got him what he wants."

"Ares hasn't managed to get us dead or get what he wants so far."  
Gabrielle responded, and then shrugged. "Okay, okay, he came close a  
couple times. Okay, he came really close a couple times. Don't shoot  
me, I'm just a messenger! Hey, don't look at me like that! My mother  
told me that's what my name means. I found out later she was wrong,  
though. It doesn't mean anything like that. You remember, Xena, that  
young harp-playing warrior wannabe we met?"

"The boy who I showed how to kill Goliath? Yes, I remember him,  
Gabrielle." Xena agreed. "But, is there some point here?"

"Well, of course there's a point. As sorry as we were that Goliath  
ended up dead, there was no choice in the matter. David couldn't have  
killed him on his own, and saved the king's entire army. David was  
the one who told me what my own name means, something like: God's  
strength or God is strong . I'd have to check my scrolls. So the  
point is, even if something dangerous has to be done, even if it  
seems like only one person can do it, usually that one person  
needs . . . a lot of backup. That's what you need, Hercules, our  
backup."

"No, Gabrielle. I can't risk all your lives while saying I want to  
protect them. It has to come to an end. Don't you see that?"  
Hercules demanded of his friends.

"You still can't go alone." Xena reiterated, evading the question.

"You might not come back and Iolaus would never forgive me if I let that happen."

the warrior nodded to the hunter, managing a partial grin.

 "He had a hard enough time forgiving me after the first time we crossed paths."

"And in case you hadn't guessed," Gabrielle added, doing her best to  
get into Hercules' face again. "Where Xena goes, I go. We're not  
doing that she goes one way; I go another thing again, not anytime  
soon. Not if I have any choice in the matter."

"What she said." Xena nodded, smiling brightly enough, Hercules  
thought, to light the twilight inn yard like daylight.

"That goes double for me." Iolaus agreed, his clear blue eyes full of  
laughter and love.

Now even Hercules couldn't help laughing. "Where Xena goes, you  
go?" he asked disingenuously. "Now wait just a gods be damned . . ."

"He could do worse!" the warrior protested, thoroughly enjoying  
teasing the demigod as very few could get away with.

Just loud enough to be heard, Hercules grinned "Believe me, he has."

"So, speak up, Iolaus, which of us would you choose?" Xena demanded,  
laughing.

The hunter looked from the demigod to the warrior, seeming absolutely  
perplexed for a moment or two. He winked at Xena; quite certain she  
understood he wanted only her friendship. He turned to Hercules, with  
whom he had a far deeper understanding now than at any time in their  
lives, and smiled sweetly. "Aww, Herc, how can you ask?"

Then Iolaus grinned, looking like nothing so much as that mischievous  
infant god, Bliss, pulled Gabrielle into his arms and gave the bard a  
long, deep passionate kiss. Letting her go gently, so that she  
wouldn't stagger and fall from the surprise, Iolaus shrugged at the  
other two, and said: "How can you ask? Let's go, Gabby."

"Uh . . . wha?" the bard asked, absolutely at a loss for words,  
staring from Iolaus to Xena to Hercules and back to the amorous  
hunter again.

"Dinner should be ready by now. Aren't you hungry?" Iolaus asked  
solicitously, a laugh building within him as he saw the warrior and  
the demigod doing their best to look hurt, if not utterly rejected.

"Uh . . .hungry, sure. I'm . . . .Iolaus, what. .?"

"We're going to have dinner, and talk quietly, about how wise I am  
not to go down that road with our mutual friends again. Meanwhile  
these two are going to talk about how to deal with our immortal  
problem, without committing suicide. Oh, and Herc?"

"Yeah?"

"Go ahead and bring that firewood in whenever you're ready, ok?"

In answer, an already split log sailed over the hunter's golden head  
as he and Gabrielle walked back inside the inn. Fortunately the warm  
laughter of both the demigod and the warrior princess quickly  
followed, as Iolaus and the bard queen neatly ducked the object and  
went on.

Watching them leave, Xena turned back to Hercules, and her smile  
thinned out and died. "Gabrielle's right, going after Ares and  
Callisto both is the same as throwing your life away. I'm pretty sure  
you don't want to do that. So suppose you tell me what you do have  
in mind. The dagger?"

"Yes." Hercules met her gaze reluctantly and saw exactly how well she  
understood and how much she hated his budding plan.

"Can we talk?" Xena asked the demigod, and motioned for him to sit  
beside her on a wide tree stump.


	4. Chapter 4

**Part Four **

Xena and Hercules, Iolaus and Gabrielle made camp for the night on  
their third night out from the inn. Tossing a dinar as usual gave the  
warrior and the demigod the tasks of preparing the campfire and  
bedrolls, while the hunter and the bard were in charge of their  
horses. It seemed the best way to handle things at present since the  
tension between the two pairs of friends was palpable in the air and  
some breathing room was needed as they journeyed towards Ares'  
palace.  
"Iolaus," Gabrielle finally asked the older man. "Am I wrong? Am I  
crazy? Am I the only one who hates this supposed plan?"

"No, Gabrielle, you're not wrong and you're definitely not crazy. I  
don't know how it can even be called a 'plan'!" Iolaus agreed. "So  
far all I've heard is that we're going to walk into Ares' stomping  
grounds, kill the god of war, and get out alive, maybe. Meanwhile,  
we're going to keep an eye out for Callisto, who'd like my head on a  
pike about now. When she shows up, we'll turn around and kill her  
too, using the other side of the hinds' blood knife, I guess! And I  
don't know how to get Herc to listen to me, or anyone else when he's  
this . . . determined."

" Iolaus, I have to tell you, I don't understand what's going on with  
Hercules, I've never heard him actually planning to kill anyone  
before. But I can tell you exactly what's going on with Xena and its  
something noone wants, including her. She's acting and thinking like  
the warlord she used to be. I thought at first she was play-acting  
the part. But now every day she's more the way Ares wants her to be."  
Gabrielle lifted her gaze to meet the hunter's, shining with unshed  
tears. "I'm frightened for her, Iolaus. I'm frightened for all of  
us."

"Well, that's what Herc is saying, that he's done with Ares' tricks  
and traps and such. He wants to put an end to it, once and for all.  
But he hasn't thought this out, and I can't get him to tell me why.  
This simple a plan, when you're going up against gods, just won't  
work. And the big guy knows it. Anyway, he usually knows it. He's not  
himself. "

"No, Iolaus, I am myself. I've just changed." Hercules contradicted  
his best friend, walking up behind the hunter as few could without  
getting his immediate attention. "I know that Gabrielle understands.  
Because she's changed too. Isn't that so, Gabrielle?"

"Yes, Hercules. I'm not the girl who left home looking for  
adventures. Some days I think if someone told me I'd never have  
another "adventure" like some I've had recently, I'd thank all the  
gods." Gabrielle admitted softly. "But I wouldn't really give up a  
single day in the past few years . . . They've made me who I am. Well,  
I guess I'd give back a few of those days. . . the ones that hurt the  
most, the ones I'm least proud of. Wouldn't we all do that, if we  
could? I guess Xena told you about . . , some of the things that  
happened." the bard asked, and swallowed hard. It would never come  
easy to think or speak of the pain she'd gone through. But sometimes  
it was necessary

."Yes. That's why I came over to talk with you, Gabrielle. But  
Iolaus, if you don't mind, I'd rather talk to your chosen lady  
alone. "Hercules asked, with just a hint of the laughter from their  
last night at the inn in his wide blue eyes.

"Only if it's all right with her." Iolaus responded, half joking and  
half seriously, seeing a deep sorrow pinch the young bard's face and  
cloud her emerald eyes.

."I'm fine, Iolaus. Thanks." Gabrielle assured him with a warm hug.

"Okay, I'll go talk with our mutual friend then. Call me if he gets  
too pushy with you, all right? I know he's jealous as Tartarus about  
the other night.''

"A small smile lifted Gabrielle's mouth at the corners but went no further,

 as Iolaus left her side. "So, what did you need to talk with me about,

alone, Hercules?" she demanded.

"Gabrielle," Hercules began, looked down at her, looked away, looked  
back and found her still waiting, with only one eyebrow partially  
lifted in an unconscious gesture she must have learned from a certain  
warrior.

"Just spitting it out usually seems to work best." the bard  
encouraged him.

"For me, yeah. It usually does. Gabrielle, are you sure you're up to  
this . . .trip? I started out with every intention of going alone. I  
didn't want to take anyone along. Its not like I don't know how  
dangerous this will be! That's my whole reason! Can you understand?  
Gods, this is hard to talk about!"

"Well, it's hard for me, but I'm not sure why it should be so hard  
for you, Hercules. Forgive me if I'm being too blunt here, but I am  
the one who killed for the first time in that temple in Britannia. I  
am the one Dahok attacked. I am the one who was raped. I am the one  
who survived all that and more. So what did you mean to say to me  
about that?"

"Well, just. . . that I don't fault you; that no one could possibly  
fault you for sitting this one out. I meant to tell you that all of  
us would understand if you said that you're going to let us deal with  
whatever comes up."

"Why, Hercules?" the bard demanded, her usually quiet tone of voice  
growing harsh. "Because I've had all I can take? Because I've gone  
through more than anyone, myself included thought I could take? And  
maybe because Xena asked you to ask me this?"

"No, Gabby," Hercules interrupted her, using Iolaus' pet name for the  
bard as he never had before. But he didn't get a chance to go on with  
any more soothing words. Soothing was not going to work until she'd  
made her stance clear to the demigod.

"You're right, Hercules. I experienced more than I or any other woman  
should ever have to deal with. I lost my innocence. I lost my virtue,  
according to what some people would say. I lost my daughter. Some of  
it I went through with my lover's help and support. Some of it I went  
through all on my own. But women deal with this all the time,  
Hercules, they have done so ever since there were any women or any  
men. So you're right. And you're WRONG." Gabrielle's eyes were  
shooting sparks now and Hercules knew he would have to wait, and let  
her finish what she needed to say.

"You're wrong to think or say that I can't deal with whatever life puts

in front of me. I can, for a very simple reason: I already have dealt with it

and come out the other side. I survived. And believe me, if I survived that nightmare,

nothing else can seriously stand in my way. I'm stronger now than I could possibly be,

otherwise. And I think that is something you can understand."

"I'm glad to try, Gabrielle." Hercules told her, his respect for  
the bard already growing enormously.

" When you work on those walls Iolaus is always telling me about at

Alcmene's house, you use your muscles. And sometimes, as strong as you are,

those muscles hurt the next day, don't they? But they also get stronger.

 As strong as you were already, using your muscles makes them stronger, right?"

"Right." The son of Zeus nodded, with a slight smile.

" Well, my muscles are different. They're invisible. They're the ones  
I need to be a bard and a lover and a friend, and a woman. They're  
emotions. And I have to use them, every day, I have to work them out  
and feel the pain that comes afterwards, and go on using them. I  
can't do anything else and keep the use of those muscles, keep the  
strength I've discovered in using them.

Some days it's the only strength I have, Hercules. So I cherish it.

And that's why I'm going with the three of you, whether I like what you're planning or not

 You couldn't come up with anything worse than what I've already survived

if you sat and thought for a thousand years, Hercules. I survived.

I can survive, and I will survive. There's only one way I would not, Hercules.

That would be if I stopped using those muscles'. Now, do you understand?"

"I think so, Gabrielle, as much as I can. Thank you." Hercules  
nodded, bowing his head in deep respect to the bard queen.

"You're welcome. Thank you for listening to me blow off all that steam!"

Gabrielle flashed a grin at the demigod. "Besides, you didn't really think

I was going to let you go traipsing around the countryside with my woman, did you?"

Hercules shook his head no, and laughed with the bard.


	5. Chapter 5

**Part Five **

Xena and I are going after the dagger." Hercules said, when he  
returned to their camp the next day. "Around dawn tomorrow. Quick in,  
quick out. Easy." The demigod insisted, trying to reassure Iolaus and  
Gabrielle, both of whom looked clearly skeptical. Seeking more  
support, he glanced at Xena, who nodded and went on.

"Its likely to be just as foggy tomorrow as it was this morning,  
especially . . Where we're headed. That makes it perfect for our  
little snatch and go plan. That and a couple of tricks I picked up  
from Autolycus." The warrior grinned broadly at her friends, knowing  
how well acquainted they each were with the thief's slippery  
ways. "No one will suspect a thing, least of all Ares, until its too  
late."

"Xena," Gabrielle interjected warily. "You make it sound as if it was  
going to be fun. This isn't about fun, as I understood the plan."

"You're right, Gabrielle." Hercules nodded. "It's about cutting off a  
dangerous threat to all of us, once and for all."

"And so, explain to me, again, why that calls for Gabby and me to  
stay behind?" Iolaus demanded, seeing how the question irritated  
Hercules and unwilling to take it back.

"Because if you stay here, camping and fishing and relaxing, as if  
nothing out of the ordinary was going on, no one, including my nosy  
half brother will wonder what we're up to." Iolaus shook his head  
impatiently and let the point go for the moment, looking at Gabrielle  
for her support.

"But if Ares is always wondering what we're up to," the bard  
noted. "Won't he wonder even more if we're not traveling together?"

"Gabrielle, that's just it." Xena answered, locking her gaze to the  
younger woman's. "We're not giving him any time to wonder. This will  
be a matter of less than a day's time. Really."

"Absolutely." Hercules agreed vehemently. "It won't take any time at  
all. There's no reason it should, and that makes it all the safer for  
you."

"Herc, I'm not looking for this to be safe. I'm here to keep you from  
getting in over your head, remember?" Iolaus frowned at the demigod.

"Well, the best way I can keep from getting in over my head, Iolaus,  
is to keep focused. And I can't stay focused if I'm worrying about  
you."

The hunter folded his arms across his chest and scowled at  
Hercules. "Well, the gods know I wouldn't want to be a liability."  
Iolaus said sarcastically.

"Iolaus, I didn't mean it like that." Hercules responded.

"Iolaus, I'm going as his back up." Xena told the hunter. "And  
Gabrielle is staying here as yours. I trust you that much, Iolaus. I  
trust you with her life. So, I guess the real question is, will you  
trust me?"

"Xena, I trust you. I trust you to watch Hercules' back as well as  
anyone could, myself included. But this split up is not what we first  
talked about. And I have a real bad feeling about this." Hercules gave

Xena a long-suffering look and shrugged.

Xena turned back to the hunter, saying: "Iolaus, we've been through  
this. It's simply the fastest and safest way to handle this problem.  
Two people can travel faster than four, two people can get in and out  
of there faster. It's just more practical. Can you see that?"

Grudgingly, the hunter nodded and turned his clear gaze to Gabrielle,  
as did Xena and Hercules.

The demigod spoke before the warrior could go on. "Gabrielle, we said  
back at the inn that we're all in this together. This is too important

to all of us to take unnecessary risks. Do you trust me to keep Xena safe?"

"To keep Xena safe, absolutely, I trust you."

"Thank you. And I'm counting on you to keep Iolaus out of trouble,  
too."

"Of course, Hercules." Gabrielle agreed solemnly. "But when we get  
back to that inn again, well . . . " the bard grinned brilliantly,  
and winked one green eye in a way that made Xena smile and Iolaus  
blush from the roots of his hair to the base of his neck. "It will be  
this hunter and I who have unfinished business." All four friends  
laughed at that remark, at which Gabrielle made a point of pulling  
Iolaus' lips down to meet hers in a long, warm, highly affectionate  
kiss.


	6. Chapter 6

**Part Six **

None of them noticed a watcher beyond the clearing they camped in.  
She had no intention they should take notice of her as yet, and was  
fully gifted with the godly ability to keep her presence secret from  
even a demigod.

Had Callisto made herself visible at that point, the four friends  
would have seen a figure who looked much unchanged from any previous  
encounter, except that she seemed almost to shake with anticipation  
of her own next step, her next move. She had more energy than her  
slight frame could really contain and it was wearing thin the veneer  
of indifference to life and all its pains she once carried like a  
shield. Having learned that she had the ability to heal, the maddened  
goddess had been trying it out regularly since her notable success  
with Xena. She'd injured and healed animals and plants, old women  
cowering before her and little girls staring at her in shock, as  
she'd once, long ago stared at Xena. But now Callisto trembled with  
the frustration of a new discovery. Somehow it seemed, despite her  
godly powers to both harm and heal, she could do neither to herself.

"Well if that isn't a damned bother, I don't know what is." she  
muttered, under her voice to make sure the four friends could not hear her.

"It would be so easy if I could end my own existence, take  
myself on a one way ride to Tartarus,

or whatever the Fates have in mind. But being immortal, I can't die

and being cursed with this  
healing thing, I can't make myself sane! Who's brilliant idea was  
this anyway? Oh yeah, Xena, and her little brat over there. Xena said  
I should eat the gods be damned ambrosia and become immortal.  
Gabbyall said I should find out if I can heal. Well they're going to  
pay for leaving me like this! Hercules will pay for surviving what I  
planned for him. And that interloper, Iolaus will pay for getting in  
my way. Oh yes, hunter, we still have unfinished business too. I'm  
not waiting any longer than absolutely necessary."

Callisto watched as the foursome ate dinner, cleared up camp and went  
to sleep. She waited as Hercules and Xena left in the morning. She  
waited until Gabrielle heard Argo whinnying nervously and walked to  
the mare's grazing area to check on her. Grinning at her own  
trickery, the crazed goddess of Cirra waited until Iolaus the hunter  
was alone.

"Did you think that I forgot you, hunter?" Callisto purred in his  
ear. "I gave you a break, last time. I let you go, because I had  
other matters to attend to. You don't get that lucky, this time."

"Callisto," Iolaus breathed, as he turned to face her. "I can't tell  
you what a pleasure it is to see you again."

"Don't try to humor me, you meddling fool. I could have had my life  
back, if you hadn't interfered."

"You can't know that for certain. We both took risks we thought we  
had to take." The hunter reasoned, knowing full well it was no use  
reasoning with a mad goddess.

"Well, you certainly did. I hope it was worth it." Callisto snarled.

"Look, things don't always work out the way we want, do they?"  
Iolaus asked her, looking around, grateful to find that Gabrielle was  
nowhere in sight. This was his business to deal with.

" How can you not understand what you did to me? You saved my  
wretched life in Cirra, when I didn't want it saved! "

"Its not in my nature to let a child die, Callisto." Iolaus ducked  
and feinted, keeping away so far from the punches she threw.

"So you had to meddle, didn't you? That's the main problem you  
mortals really have, you know. You can't leave well enough alone."

"I couldn't leave the world without Hercules in it. I couldn't leave  
it in the hands of Xena as a Conqueror. If that's what you mean by  
well enough, then no, no way. I had to do whatever I could. And  
that's what you did, Callisto, whatever you could to get what you  
wanted. So for that you want to kill me?"

"That and for trying to talk me to death! This is really tedious,  
hunter. Are you ready to see the pits of Tartarus? Oh, I forgot,  
you're quite the visitor down there. Got your favorite shade's tavern  
picked out and everything? "

"Hey, if you think I'm going to just stand here and let you take my  
life without a fight, you have another thought coming. I'm not  
ready to die, not to suit your purposes, whatever they may be. So,  
take your best shot." With that said, the hunter sprinted across the  
clearing, in the opposite direction he'd seen Gabrielle go earlier.  
If it cost him his life, he would keep her out of this.

"Coward!" Callisto yelled, flashing out of sight, only to reappear at  
the end of the path he'd taken. "Lovely advantage to have, don't you  
think?" she laughed, landing a punch to his jaw. "Really keeps you on  
your toes, doesn't it?"

"Callisto, if all you understand is pain and hatred, then understand  
this:" Iolaus answered, breathing as deeply as he could, getting  
ready for another sprint that might buy him time to think of  
something else. "I followed you in time because you didn't just want  
to destroy yourself, you wanted to destroy my world, this world."  
Pretending a calm he felt none of, he took a quick look around, still  
saw no sign of Gabrielle and went on. "You left me no choice. You  
must have known someone would try to stop you. This time, it just  
happened to be me."

"Bad luck for you, then." Callisto sneered. "Too bad, you don't have  
any time left to learn from your mistakes."

Jumping at Iolaus, the mad immortal landed a roundhouse kick that sent him back across the clearing.

The hunter landed hard, but rolled and clambered to his feet again.  
"You don't have to do this, you know." He was gasping now, feeling an  
odd numbness in his shoulder, wondering if the joint was  
dislocated. "There's always another way of handling these things."

"This way seems to be working just fine for me. I believe one has an  
obligation to pay one's debts, hunter. And you owe me a death. Its  
time to pay up." Callisto replied, punctuating each word with a blow,  
some that connected, some that he ducked.

Iolaus feinted as she turned, but not fast enough this time. Callisto  
kicked his legs out from under him and continued to kick the hunter  
fiercely.

"Callisto!" Gabrielle called out, using the best imitation she could  
muster of her warrior's command voice. "Callisto, get away from him!"

Damn! Iolaus thought, she's here. "Gabrielle, no! Run!"

"Oh, goody! Two mortals to play with. Gabrielle, I'm so glad you  
decided to join the party." The goddess answered, as she threw a  
punch that Iolaus managed again to duck.

"I mean it, Callisto, get away from him." Gabrielle glanced at  
Iolaus, who frowned back at her. With Callisto's attention diverted,  
the hunter kicked her legs out from under her.

"C'mon, Callisto, your fight's not with her."

Callisto was instantly on her feet, and came down hard on Iolaus'  
left ankle. "Don't do that." The Cirran said, in the tone of an  
irritated child.

Turning to look at Gabrielle, she said: "Don't worry little one, I'll  
get to you too. But first things first."

"What's the matter, Callisto, can't you take two mortals on at once?"  
Gabrielle demanded, feinting and pulling a couple punches as she  
tried to signal Iolaus to get out of range.

"Oh, it's not that, dear. I just like to take my time, spread the fun  
out."

"Time is what you don't have, Callisto. Xena and Hercules will be  
here any moment, and I know you can't deal with the four of us."

Callisto laughed, "Oh, are they really on their way? Good...think  
they found that dagger yet, hum? Which one do you think will get to  
me first?"

"Dagger? What dagger?" Iolaus asked blandly, sitting up and giving  
his best bewildered look to both women.

"Oh, puh-lease. You think that I don't know where they went?  
You think I didn't want them to come after me?"

" Well, since I don't know where they went, and Iolaus doesn't know  
where they went, even if you can read our minds, how would you?"

"All I need to know is that they went after the hinds' blood dagger..  
and we all know that is where they went. I'm getting bored with this  
little chat!" Callisto scowled.

Gabrielle whispered, urgently "Iolaus, if you can get up, do it now  
and get away from her."

Callisto punched Gabrielle and pushed the bard out of her way. But  
Gabrielle jumped back, standing astride Iolaus, who seemed unable to  
stand.

"I think she broke my leg. And maybe something else." The hunter told  
her. "I don't feel so great." A sheen of sweat covered his face, and  
he braced himself in a sitting position with both arms.

"Callisto, I thought the one thing you wanted was oblivion."

"I do, brat, and by all the gods, I'm going to get it from your  
friends, if I have to murder both of you."  
Gabrielle shook her head no, and went on. "Then maybe you can explain  
something about that to me."

"Explain what? I kill you; they kill me. End of discussion." Callisto  
giggled but there was no mirth in her voice.

"That would work except for one thing." The bard continued, although  
a strange feeling like a hand on the back of her neck made her shiver  
at the words.

"Oh, and what's that?"

"I made Xena promise me a long time ago that she wouldn't try and  
avenge my death if anything happened to me. I reminded her about that  
last night. She promised again. She won't come after you."

"And I'm supposed to believe Iolaus got the same promise from his  
best buddy, the son of Zeus?"

"No, just the opposite. That's what you're not considering here,  
Callisto, and that's what surprises me."

"Oh, and what do you think I forgot?"

"We have no reason to give you something you want. "

"Gods! Girl, what are you babbling about?" Callisto asked, suddenly  
sounding less sure of herself.

" Its simple, if you lay even one more finger on me, or on Iolaus, I  
can guarantee you'll never get your precious oblivion. At least not  
from us."

"Hercules isn't that calculating, dear."

"Xena is!"

Callisto's expression changed to something like that of a child whose  
game was spoiled, as she realized she was beaten. She turned away  
from Gabrielle and Iolaus both for a moment. The bard was doing her  
best to help the hunter lean on her and move back to their campsite.  
Iolaus was plainly in pain but dealing with it.

A scream like that of a wounded mountain cat brought their attention  
back to Callisto as she whirled and kicked. Gabrielle fell soundly on  
her back and rushed to her feet again, but not fast enough. Just as  
the Cirran intended, her boot connected like a fist with Iolaus'  
back, just below his ribcage and he crumpled like a thrown away  
poppet. Blowing a kiss to the bard, who ran to the hunter's side,  
Callisto called out.

"Well, that wasn't a finger!" she shrugged, and was gone in a flame  
orange burst of light.

"Iolaus? Can you hear me?"

"I'm still here, Gabby."

Gabrielle smiled at him, half crying with relief.

"You know, that was pretty stupid. I'm not sure if I should thank you  
or throttle you." Iolaus scolded her.

"Stick with thanking me. You're not in much shape to throttle anyone."

"Lucky for you." the hunter joked in return. "Seriously, Gabrielle,  
thank you. But you should have run."

"Well, I didn't see you running when you had the chance. You could  
have gotten away, you know."

"What and let you have all the fun?" Iolaus laughed, and then  
grimaced.

"Okay, how badly are you hurt?" the bard demanded.

"I've been better. I've been worse."

Gabrielle looked at him with concern. For Iolaus to admit even that  
much was reason enough to worry.

"Well, stay here, then. I'll go get some supplies from the campsite,  
are you going to be okay for a few minutes?"

"I'm fine." Iolaus insisted. "I could use a pint of ale right about  
now. But otherwise, no worries."  
"I'll see what I can do." The bard told him, shaking her  
head. "You're sure you'll be okay?" she asked, standing up.

"Gabrielle, go."

"I'll be right back, don't go anywhere."

"I don't think you need to worry about that." He teased.

Gabrielle turned to smile at him over her shoulder, and hurried off.


	7. Chapter 7

**Part Seven**

Hercules stood behind Gabrielle, facing Xena, and all of their  
attention was on Iolaus, who lay on a pile of blankets, on a hastily  
made bed of grasses and pine needles to make it softer. The hunter  
took little notice of his three friends. Just breathing in and out,  
with a gasp here and a moan there as he did so seemed to have his  
full concentration. His skin was pale and clammy and his eyes were  
unfocused but bright with a building fever. Gabrielle couldn't help  
comparing Iolaus' appearance to the way Xena had looked before  
Callisto reluctantly used her healing powers on the warrior. There  
would be no asking the mad goddess to heal Iolaus. His pain, his  
frightening condition were all Callisto's work. Knowing that chilled  
Gabrielle's blood. She felt completely helpless to aid her friend.

Hercules seemed frozen in place; his hands dangled helplessly, his  
gaze never left Iolaus' face. He didn't seem to see or hear anyone  
else. He shook his head and mouthed the word 'no,' soundlessly, over  
and over. His eyes shone with unshed tears. Xena knelt by the hunter's  
side, using the skills she'd learned after too many battles to count  
anymore. Deftly and as gently as possible she checked Iolaus for  
cuts, visible fractures, and open wounds. She was grateful to find  
only his left ankle broken. Gabrielle had already wrapped it tightly  
before Xena and Hercules returned to the camp, and the swelling was  
not as bad as it might have been. But after removing Iolaus' vest,  
the warrior found a number of abrasions, swellings and bruises that  
made her bite her lower lip thoughtfully.

"Help me turn him." She bluntly ordered the demigod, who immediately  
knelt to do as she asked. "But slowly, I just want to see his back  
for a moment and then lay him back down, Understand?"

Still seemingly unable to find his ability to speak aloud, Hercules nodded 'yes.'

He was caught in echoes of the nightmare that had plagued him for days.

Only now that nightmare had invaded his all too real daytime existence.  
"Iolaus, I know this is going to hurt like Tartarus, and until I know  
everything that's going on, I can't help you much with the pain."  
Xena knelt more deeply still and spoke softly to the barely conscious  
hunter. "Do the best you can, and if you need to pass out, don't  
worry about it.

Sometimes that's all you can do to handle this kind  
of pain. Okay?" Iolaus seemed to nod, making all three of his friends  
wonder if he really understood what was going on. "Okay, on count of  
three, turn him onto his left side. One, two, three."

Hercules turned Iolaus as gently and as easily as he might have his  
baby daughter Ilea, balancing the hunter in his arms while Xena made  
the rest of her examination. Neither Hercules or Gabrielle could miss  
what happened next; just as Xena's deep blue eyes rested on Iolaus'  
lower back, and widened with worry she could not conceal, the hunter  
let out the loudest groan he had managed yet, and collapsed fully  
unconscious into Hercules' arms.

"Hercules!" Xena commanded the son of Zeus, as she would have any  
unnerved soldier in her armies or any anxious healer's apprentice.

 "Lay him back down on the blankets. Now! Hercules! He's unconscious,

not dead. Lay him down."

"What? Oh, yeah." The demigod agreed. He did as Xena asked, and sat  
back on his haunches, knowing not even the strongest legs in the  
world would support his standing up right now. Looking down, he saw  
his hands were shaking as if he, instead of Iolaus suffered from a  
fever. Quickly he hid them behind his back, ashamed his blatant fears  
might be seen.

"Hercules, I think you'd better let me handle Iolaus' care right  
now. I've done this kind of work so many times its as familiar as  
fighting to me." Xena began to stand up and held out her hand to  
Hercules as she did so, making it look as though she was asking him  
to help her rise. In fact, even Gabrielle could plainly see it was  
the other way around.

"Xena, its because of my damned plan that Iolaus is lying there. Its  
because Callisto wanted to destroy me that he earned her anger. This  
is my fault. Don't you see? I can't leave him alone when he's hurt  
this badly." Hercules protested, trying to shake off his icy fear.  
"Well, you're not leaving him alone, are you? I'm taking my turn, and  
Gabrielle will help me. The two of us sitting with Iolaus might  
make up for your being otherwise occupied, don't you think?" Xena's  
most wicked grin surfaced and she winked at Hercules for good  
measure.

"And just exactly what will I be otherwise occupied with?" Hercules  
asked, trying to laugh in response as the two women encouraged  
him. "Well, Gabrielle's gonna be very, very hungry pretty soon,  
aren't you, m'love?" Xena drawled.

"What? Oh, yes, Xena, I'm going to be very hungry." Gabrielle quickly  
agreed, wondering what the warrior woman was up to.

"So I thought you could go quail hunting and cook dinner, lots of  
dinner, cos I'm gonna be very hungry too."

"Quail hunting and cooking dinner?" Hercules finally managed a  
genuine laugh at this division of labors. If Xena could joke with him  
right now maybe his fears for Iolaus were exaggerated, based on  
nothing but nightmare shadows and Ares' jealous taunts. "Xena, why  
don't you just come out and say 'Hercules, I'm really busy right now,  
trying to put your best friend back together. Get out of my hair!'?"

Xena shrugged and grinned brilliantly at the demigod. "Works for me."  
She said in deadpan imitation of the son of Zeus. "Hercules? I'm  
really busy putting your best friend back together right now. Will  
you please get out of my . . . infirmary?!"

"Certainly, General Xena, whatever you say." Hercules answered, but  
mockery was not the reality in his eyes, restored humor and  
confidence was. The son of Zeus left them to do as was requested of  
him. Gabrielle watched him leave the camp, with only one glance back.  
She was very glad Hercules trusted her and Xena with Iolaus' care.  
She was also glad to see him shake off the dread that seemed to lock  
him in place moments before. He trusted Xena with his own life, and  
likely Gabrielle too. But considering Hercules didn't place as much  
value on his own life as the lives of others, it was vastly more of  
an honor, the bard thought, that he should trust her and Xena with  
Iolaus' life.  
"Gods, grant we're worthy of his trust." She thought aloud, and then  
turned back to her companion. "Xena, can you help Iolaus at all?"  
Gabrielle worriedly asked the warrior, who had her own uncanny gift  
of healing. "Can anyone?"

The hunter lay between them, only half conscious, his pain dimmed for the

 time being by Xena's use of pressure points. Despite that aid, Iolaus

gritted his teeth and moaned softly when even the lightest hand brushed over

his injuries.

"Time is what will help him the most, time and rest. It's just what  
he hasn't been getting, and it's just what he wants least, right now."  
Xena replied. "He's lucky you were able to stop Callisto, Gabrielle.  
He owes his life to you, not me. All I can do is use either pressure  
points or numbing drugs to keep the worst of his pain away. His other  
injuries aren't that serious."  
Gabrielle reached for her partner's hands, and her attention. "But  
Xena, if they aren't that serious, why are you saying Iolaus owes me  
his life?" the bard demanded. "This kind of injury is one that takes  
moons to heal completely. And that's four or five moons of complete  
bed rest. You said she kicked him, hard, . . . right there?" Xena  
pointed to the lower, right back of her bard as illustration. Gabrielle

nodded mutely.  
Then the warrior pointed to the bruising, swollen area on Iolaus'  
back. "Now I'm only going on my experience, mixed with some  
speculation. Something's broken inside, and all I know is that people  
with this kind of injury either heal very slowly, mostly on their  
own, with lots of rest and care, or they die very quickly. If you  
hadn't stopped Callisto's rampage . . ."

"He'd already be dead." Gabrielle finished the thought, shuddering.  
"But that didn't happen, Gabrielle. We have to focus on that, for  
Iolaus and Hercules' sakes, and ours. He's hurt, but not so badly  
that he can't possibly recover."  
The bard let out a deep breath she wasn't aware of drawing in, and  
smiled. Then she frowned again, worry darkening her gaze.

"But how will we convince Iolaus that he can't do anything but

rest for the next four or five moons? He's one of the most restless,

energetic men I know."

"Why don't you leave that job to me, Gabrielle?" Xena smiled at the  
bard. "I've been known to be able to convince men to do things they  
didn't really want to do from time to time; even though I'm not a  
bard-queen." The warrior leaned over and gently kissed her . "And I  
will be doing what, exactly, while you're talking to and tending to  
Iolaus?"

"Oh, you get the really hard part." Xena grinned, still trying to  
reassure her. "You see that hunched-over, not-looking-this-way,  
trying-to-pretend-he's-not-straining-his ears-to-hear-us son of Zeus  
over there?" the warrior asked, pointing to where Hercules sat  
exactly as she described him on the other side of their camp.

"Uh-huh." Gabrielle smiled, showing some return of good spirits by  
perfectly imitating her partner's laconic mannerism. Xena shook her  
dark head and then pretended to ignore the jibe. "Well, guess what  
you get to have with him, now that this trouble has brought all our  
half-built plans to a halt?"

Gabrielle's shoulders slumped and she regarded her skeptically," A  
sensitive chat?" she sighed. "You want me to have a sensitive chat  
with the son of Zeus?"

"No, Gabrielle." Xena explained, shaking her head. "I want you to  
have a chat with our friend, Hercules, because he really needs a  
friend right now. I'm a bit preoccupied and as you can see, so is  
Iolaus. That leaves you. Please, go to him. I can't. You know they  
might not have gotten into this whole mess if it wasn't for Ares  
attacking me. And Iolaus would probably would never have met  
Callisto, if he hadn't met me. I know you have a special friendship  
with Iolaus. But would that friendship let you say to him the kind of  
things Hercules needs to hear right now?"

"Maybe not. No, probably not." Gabrielle agreed. "And I know the  
special friendship you have with Hercules. So, yes, I understand. And  
yes, I will do whatever I can, to help him, Xena." Xena's eyes shone  
with unshed tears. She pulled the bard into a quick, fierce, wordless  
hug before sending her across their campsite to where a certain son  
of Zeus sat alone.


	8. Chapter 8

**Part Eight **

Hercules sat on the other side of the campfire,  
still dressing and preparing the birds he brought back to roast for  
their supper. Obviously, he was doing his best to keep busy. Obviously,

it wasn't helping much. His face was dark with pain again,  
his eyes full of fear, the one time he glanced up to find the bard  
walking in his direction. Quickly, too quickly, he looked away again.  
Okay, Gabrielle wondered, how am I going to get through to him? Well,  
there's one way to break the ice that almost always works. No harm in  
trying, right? The bard sat down beside Hercules and coughed politely  
to get his attention.

"Hercules, I wish Xena could come over to talk with you, but she  
always says I'm better with words. And I guess I'd better be, in my  
line of work. So I'm going to start with what I know and how I know  
to do it: " Gabrielle took a deep breath and sat down beside the  
demigod.

"I heard a story once." she began, "It was a strange story that  
seemed all upside down and backwards from what I'd always heard was  
the truth. Not that a bard has to believe every word of every story  
she tells. In this story, the queen of the gods had a passionate  
affair with a mortal man, a king, actually. In time the queen of the  
gods grew bored with her human lover and sent him away. So saddened  
was he that he went recklessly into battle, and died. But from their  
passion was born a half mortal, half godly son.

Now this queen of the gods had no wish that her jealous mate,  
the king of the gods find out about her affair or her son. So she  
fostered him with the beautiful but barren widow of the man who had  
been her lover. Now these two women, mortal and immortal, had no more  
reason and no more need to keep secrets one from the other and they  
did not do so where the son of the queen of gods was concerned. But  
they agreed to keep secret his maternity, for as long as possible.  
Only when he grew to manhood and grew strong enough to contend with  
the dangers of his half-godly nature should the queen's son know his  
true mother.

'And when he is old enough' the queen of the gods told her  
son's surrogate mother. 'To prove that he is strong and wise enough,  
I shall give him trials to meet, challenges to conquer and tasks to  
complete that would daunt any ordinary man. For my son will never be  
ordinary, nor do I wish him to be. Promise me you will not treat him  
as an ordinary mortal, and I will take my leave of you both. But if  
you will not promise this, then I will risk taking him to my own  
lands, and hiding him there from the king of the gods.'

'No, do not take him to your lands, he's but an infant, he  
cannot yet protect himself from your jealous mate or his half-  
siblings, either.' The mortal queen insisted. 'I love him as I would  
a son of my own flesh. And I can see he is extraordinary even now.  
Why should I treat him as anything else? But you, oh mighty queen of  
the gods, do you love this half mortal, half godly son you leave to  
my care?'

And the queen of the gods gazed at her tiny son and sighed. 'I  
do not know. I have known great passions for many a man. I have known  
bitter jealousies for many a woman. I have known great hatreds and  
vast sorrows. But I do not know if I have known love. Perhaps, as I  
watch you watch over this child, I will learn . . .'

"Gabby, please," Hercules interrupted the bard, as she went  
deeply into bard-mode, moving her hands expressively as she recited,  
almost chanting the story aloud. "I think that's a very interesting  
story, but is there some point? Surely whatever bard taught you this  
tale wasn't saying that secretly, despite what everyone has said all  
my life, including Alcmene, and Hera and Zeus, that Hera is the one  
who bore me to my supposed mortal father and fostered me with Alcmene  
to hide me from Zeus?"

Gabrielle stopped and stared at Hercules as if she'd forgotten, or not known

he was there. "Oh don't be silly!" she exclaimed. This story **isn't about you,**

Hercules. Do you think all the bardic tales you hear are about you? Or is it that

you think everything that happens anywhere is about you? That story could have

been about Perseus, or Ulysses, about Paris, or about Achilles or well,

 don't get me started with that list, we'd be here all night! You're not

the first and you're not likely to be the last of the demigods!

You seriously need to understand that son of Zeus or not the known  
world doesn't revolve around you, when you're right or when you're  
wrong. It just so happens, this time, you're wrong, about blaming  
yourself for what happened to Iolaus. No, your plan didn't work. You  
missed something or you didn't think it all the way through or you  
just plain didn't figure on all the variables that could effect it,  
like Callisto's being less predictable than the weather. You could  
have gotten all four of us in deep trouble. But you didn't. Now isn't  
the time to give into self-blame and self-pity, if you ask my  
opinion. Of course, I'm just a mortal, why would you ask my opinion?  
The truth is, you're not going to like all that I have to say  
and . ."

"Just spitting it out usually works best for me." the demigod said,  
nearly managing a smile as he repeated what Gabrielle had said to him  
a few days before.

"Yes, yes, it does. Okay, Iolaus is going to recover from his  
injuries. Xena is as sure of that as anyone can be, and she wanted me  
to make sure I told you that first off. But, he'll need rest and care  
for the next four or five moons. No exertion, no strain, no stress;  
and, gods willing, no further injuries. Xena says that is the only  
way he'll completely heal."  
"I'm not surprised. If he'd been hurt any worse, we wouldn't be  
talking about how long it would take him to recover now. We'd be  
talking about where to hold the funeral." Hercules agreed, and  
shuddered as the thought sent ice through his blood. "We'll take him  
to my mother's home. He'll be safe there, with Jason on guard, and my  
mother's care.

She and Xena are the two best healers I've ever known. Otherwise they are

 about as different as two women could be. Funny isn't it?"

"What?" Gabrielle encouraged him.

"That two of the women I love most. . .uh, sorry, Gabrielle, I don't mean that I . . ."

"You don't mean that you love Xena?" the bard laughed heartily, "Of  
course you do! Anyone who's ever been allowed into her heart loves my  
warrior!" Gabrielle said proudly. "And in more ways than one.  
Hercules, I may be biased. But it seems to me any human being over a  
certain age would have to be dead from the neck down not to at least  
want Xena. And those few she's allowed close . . .can't help but  
love her. But you know, I really didn't come over here to discuss my  
lover with you. I came to see how you are and to tell you how Iolaus  
is. So, how are you? Better, now that you know he'll survive all  
this?"

"Well, I suppose. Well, of course, I'm really glad he'll get well. I  
owe you, and Iolaus owes you, his life. There's no question in my  
mind. I'm so grateful, Gabrielle, I . . ."

"But I love Iolaus, too, Hercules, and I make no apology to you. He's  
my second dearest friend on this earth. I only did what you or Xena  
would have done if you'd been here at that moment. And it was partly  
selfish, I need that crazy hunter to be around, joking and laughing  
and hugging and flirting, all in fun, fighting and swearing and  
listening to my stories more intently than anyone else, like he could  
never get enough. It's very complimentary to a bard, you know."

"Uh-huh." Hercules agreed, but Gabrielle knew she'd lost some of his  
attention. She'd have to be even more direct to get it  
back.

 "Hercules, we were all scared when we saw how badly Iolaus  
was hurt. Just like we were scared when Xena was hurt. Just like we  
were scared to hear Callisto threaten Iolaus. There's nothing  
strange, nothing wrong with fearing the loss of the person you care  
for most. It's just possibly the most frightening feeling anyone can  
have. But Iolaus isn't in danger of dying now. So now is the time to  
begin letting go of that fear."

"Until next time." Hercules said to himself, turning away from the  
bard.

"Hercules, you're going to drop that whole row of quails onto  
the coals any minute if you don't prop them on those Y-sticks!"  
Gabrielle scolded, reaching for the about to be immolated supper.

."What? Oh, Tartarus!" Hercules exclaimed, and helped her rescue the  
spit, hanging it properly on the uprights.

"I wouldn't burn Xena's supper if I were you, son of Zeus or no son  
of Zeus." Gabrielle giggled. "I've seen her take after people with a  
frying pan, for less!"

"She's right. She has seen me do that. Now, have you two done  
talking? And is that food ready yet? I'm starving!" Xena walked over  
towards the campfire, turning her gaze just once back to where Iolaus  
lay.

"Xena, how is he?" Hercules demanded, standing up, leaving the quail,  
spit and all in Gabrielle's care.

"Sleeping, but not as quietly as I'd like. I finally got my own little fire

started over there and got some herbs into him. After we eat, we can talk about

what kind of litter to build and what the best route is from here to Alcmene's.

That's where you want to take Iolaus, I guess?"

"Yes, that's where. And if we can work it out, I want to build a  
litter that's supported by one horse on each side. I've seen those  
but never built one before." Hercules responded.

"I have. It should make the trip far easier on Iolaus." "And that's  
what we all want." Gabrielle concluded, feeling certain she'd failed  
to reach the son of Zeus with her blunt chat. 'Maybe I should go back  
to the sensitive kind' she wondered. 'Nah.'

All three of them ate in silence, when the food was ready, absorbed  
in their thoughts and the quiet of the evening turning into night.


	9. Chapter 9

Part Nine

Ten nights later, at Alcmene's home:

Hercules awoke all at once, nightmare images spinning through his  
mind, but jumbled and chaotic. Xena was horribly injured one moment,  
the next she was pacing by his side speaking urgently words he could  
not hear, and then she was shaking her head sadly over something he  
could not see. Gabrielle was likewise arguing or pleading about  
something the demigod could not understand. But in the next instant  
she was kneeling, keening, and cradling her lover's head in her lap.  
And then the scene shifted again, showing Hercules that Iolaus now  
held a pale and gasping Gabrielle in his arms, tears streaming down  
his face.

Lastly, Iolaus went from looking like a broken puppet in Gabrielle's lap,

to grinning and fighting and disarming an unseen opponent, to collapsing on the

ground in a heap. Then it was as if all these things began to happen at once.

The son of Zeus felt as if his head spun on his shoulders, or the world around

him spun like a child's toy, while he helplessly looked on. He could not grasp

or even touch the people he saw. He couldn't move or reach towards them.

And he couldn't speak or be heard by them, so it seemed.

"Gods, no!" he finally shouted, and was relieved to see the images  
vanish, the familiar walls and windows of his mother's home around  
him.  
Hercules gasped for air as if he had been running across Greece. The  
night was still, except for the even breathing of the sleepers in the  
house. No, he reminded himself, they're all safe here. Zeus has  
always protected Alcmene, even when I defied him, even when he didn't  
particularly want to protect me. And that nightmare, that was just a  
jumble of what's been going on the past few weeks.

"I'm the one who's in trouble, if I can't get rid of these blasted  
dreams." He muttered. "And they all know it, although nobody's been  
blunt enough to say so. I could be the real danger here, if I'm not  
already. Are the people I love safe around me?" The demigod stood up  
quietly from the bed that had been rebuilt, and rebuilt and rebuilt  
again for his long frame as he grew to manhood in this house. His  
mother was an extremely light sleeper and so he used every ounce of  
his skill as a huntsman old hunter's tricks indeed, Iolaus! To step  
noiselessly past the room she and Jason occupied.

Down the next wing Gabrielle and Xena had one room off the central  
courtyard, and Iolaus another. If he could get past those, he'd at  
least be out in the air where he might be able to clear his head and  
his thoughts of the nightmare fog.

"Excuse me?" a clear, carrying voice asked behind his left  
shoulder, "Herc, its full night. Not even the least self-respecting  
thugs are out at this hour. Where in Tartarus are you going?"

"Outside." Hercules frowned at his friend. "Now its my turn to ask:  
Iolaus, what do you think you're doing wandering around the house at  
this hour?"

"I'm a light sleeper?" the hunter offered as explanation, leaning on  
a staff to favor his healing ankle. "Its an old hunters'…"

". .Trick, I know. So what? You're not supposed to be out of bed for  
weeks, yet. Both Xena and mother said as much."

"They underestimate me. I'm feeling a hundred times better. Or I was,  
until I saw you sneaking out of the house." Iolaus grumbled.

"I was not sneaking. I don't sneak. I couldn't get to sleep, and I  
just didn't want to wake anyone who might need their rest. Present  
company included."

Iolaus shook his head at the taller man. "Herc, I've known you too  
long for that to work with me. Its the middle of the night. We're in  
Alcmene's house where even Hera wouldn't dare trespass.

And yet you're too restless to sleep. What gives?"

"Its something I've got to work out, alone, Iolaus." Hercules  
replied, looking away from his friend. It's my problem, not yours,  
not anyone else's. What's so hard to understand?"

"Nothing. I understand very well, I think. But do you want to know  
what I think? Or have you decided again that what your closest  
friends think doesn't matter?"

"Of course it matters, Iolaus! But that's . ."

"Good, because frankly, Hercules, the last time you decided against  
what your best friends thought, things didn't work out so very well.  
Did they?"

Unable to argue, the demigod shook his head ashamedly. "Great. Now  
maybe we can talk about this. But I'd really rather sit by the hearth  
than outside, Herc, if you don't mind." Grimacing with the first  
signs of pain he'd shown, the hunter turned back towards the hearth  
fire.

"Uh, sure, Iolaus, let me help you."

"Nah, I've got it." Iolaus answered, lowering himself into Jason's  
big, comfortable chair by the fire. "I may not heal as quickly as a  
son of Zeus, but I'm not an invalid. Its not me we need to be worried  
about here, Herc. Its you."

Gods! Hercules stared at his closest friend for a moment. Is it  
written all the way down my face? "Why do you say that?" he demanded.

"Why? Well, lets see: You're still not letting any of us in on what's  
actually bothering you. Any argument?"

"No."

"So far so good. Next, you're not paying much attention to Xena  
that I can see. Considering you don't get to see her that often,  
that's a bit odd. Am I wrong about that?"

"Well, I . . uh . . no." Hercules shook his head.

"Uh huh, a pattern's developing here. You're not chiming in on Jason's

 war stories, not even correcting him when he . . .exaggerates to impress

Gabby. Do I hear any dispute?" Again, Iolaus studied his friend's  
face.

The demigod shook his head no. "You're eating Alcmene's meals with the  
same enthusiasm you'd give trail rations. She doesn't say a word, but  
I know she noticed, too, Herc. Care to debate the point?"

"Who? Me?" Hercules asked, knowing he wouldn't get a word in right  
now if he tried.

"Very well then. You haven't differed with me once since we got here.  
That's five items, just to start, Hercules. Add to those the fact  
that you haven't slept a night through for weeks now because of  
nightmares you won't discuss. Am I wrong?"

"Iolaus, don't go there. " Hercules didn't want to acknowledge that  
in any way. But he was looking at someone who knew him better than he  
knew himself.

"Well, am I wrong?" the hunter insisted.

"No." The demigod admitted.

"And right now you'd like to run out that door and keep running till  
you reached, I dunno, maybe Thrace, maybe Persia, maybe Chin? Or  
maybe Ares' palace, again? Did I miss anything?"

Hercules shook his head. Perhaps it wasn't a wonder Iolaus should  
know him so well. Still, it amazed him, sometimes.

"So, how do you see the problem, master healer?" he asked, forcing  
humor he felt none of into his voice. "You seem very familiar with  
this . . . patient. Is he . . . " The demigod turned his gaze away  
from Iolaus, knowing he could not ask his real question and see an  
answer in his friend's clear gaze. ". .losing his mind?"

"Gods! No, Hercules, you're not. I'm sure you're not." Iolaus said  
immediately, with a quiet firmness in his voice he reserved for the  
rarest of times.

"Well, that makes one of us, cos I'm not so sure." Hercules replied  
and then turned to stare at his closest friend, wide eyed. Just  
saying the words aloud into the quiet night-filled house was like  
dropping a tremendous weight. "And I'm not sure I shouldn't run as  
far from here as I can get, to keep from harming all of you myself!"

"Then you would stop being my friend Hercules." Iolaus insisted  
calmly. "Because he's never run from anything in his life. Besides,  
between Jason and Gabrielle, Xena and Alcmene and myself, I think we  
could manage one demigod."

"Okay, Iolaus, you tell me what I'm supposed to do, then! I haven't  
felt this way since Serena died and I thought I'd gone mad then. And  
before that Deianeira and the kids. . . .Somehow, I pulled back from  
the edge, then. Now I can't seem to remember how."

"You're supposed to remember that you're not alone here." The hunter  
answered quietly. "You're supposed to recall that people are still  
alive and well who care about you as much as you care about them. And  
it wouldn't hurt if you asked for their help, sometimes, not just for  
your latest mission or adventure, but for yourself, Herc"

"The son of Zeus is supposed to ask for help?" Hercules looked  
skeptically at his friend.

"Even the gods on Olympus do that sometimes, you may recall. You've  
helped some of them, including Zeus. Of course it does call for a  
measure of humility. Has anyone ever explained that concept to you,  
Herc?" Iolaus teased, gently.

"Humility? Nah, never heard of it." his friend managed to jibe  
back. "So you're saying that my real problem is too much pride?"

"No, I'm not talking about your pride, not really. Its a matter of  
what you expect. You don't expect failure, my friend. Why should you?  
Most of the time you don't fail."

"Iolaus, I don't always succeed. Even the gods don't always succeed.  
But when a god or even a half god fails its not just expectations  
that get harmed. People get hurt. You may have noticed."

"Couldn't help but notice that." Iolaus answered his friend, smiling.

"So by what right do I involve people, especially people I love in  
what I need or want to do? Iolaus, when I came into that clearing, I  
was sure you'd died, just like in my nightmares! If not for  
Gabrielle, if not for Xena and mother, my latest plan would have been  
a disaster!"

"But it wasn't. It simply didn't work, okay? But Herc, it didn't ruin  
anything except my plans for the next few months." The hunter  
interjected, trying to keep his friend focused.

"And now. . . all I see in my dreams is, just when I've got  
everything planned out, . . .it all comes apart and I fail over and  
over and over again. I fail everyone I care about . . fatally. How do  
I get past that?" Hercules demanded, feeling his desperation return.

"By regaining some confidence, I'd guess. By talking and listening  
and letting this one failure go."  
"Iolaus," the son of Zeus protested. "This one failure, as you put  
it, is all I can think about, awake or asleep, it doesn't matter. I  
don't know what to do. I don't know which way to turn. I have no idea  
how to shake this fear. Listen to me Iolaus, I'm afraid  
and . . . . . Gods! Did I just say that?"

The hunter nodded and clasped his friends' hands. "Yeah, you did, and  
if you want my opinion, Herc, its a damn good place to start. Or have  
you forgotten you're half man, too?"

"Did I? I don't know, but if this is how half feels, you can keep  
your full mortality!"

"Thanks, I think I'll do just that." Iolaus laughed softly. "Feel  
any better now?"

Hercules fell silent a moment, then leaned back in what was usually  
Alcmene's chair and nearly toppled it and himself backwards. Both  
friends laughed aloud and then hushed themselves quickly. It was  
still the middle of the night. "Yeah, I do." He answered wonderingly.

"Good, cos all this talk made me very thirsty. Where did Jason put  
that ale barrel?"

"I'll get it, stay put." Hercules laughed. Filling and emptying a  
pair of tankards more than a few times kept the two men occupied the  
rest of that early morning. Both felt more relaxed and grateful for  
their friendship than they had in days, if not weeks. And when  
Hercules slept it was thankfully, deeply, drunkenly and dreamlessly.


	10. Chapter 10

**Part Ten **

"So what happens now?" Hercules asked his three closest friends,  
Iolaus, Xena and Gabrielle, shaking his head in chagrin, when they  
had finally convinced him.

"Obviously we're not going after Ares and Callisto with the dagger,  
since we said all of us would go or none." Iolaus answered from his  
sickbed, "And I'm stuck here for the foreseeable."

"And since the dagger is gone, the gods only know where, we don't  
have it to use against them in any case." Xena added with a shrug.  
Gabrielle walked to the window and intensely studied the summer fruit  
ripening in Alcmene's garden. "Can't use a weapon we don't have." She  
shrugged, making sure Hercules could not see her face. "Can we?"

"And that leaves us right back where we began." Hercules  
protested. "They are both still very much a threat, to all of us.

And if Ares has that blasted dagger, he's a deadly threat to the  
Olympians, as well."

"Not exactly." Gabrielle shook her head. "I think its safe to say  
that if either Callisto or Ares had already found the dagger, they'd  
make sure we knew. And maybe we can use that." the bard frowned  
thoughtfully, chewing on her lower lip in such a perfectly  
unconscious imitation of Xena's oft seen expression that the other  
three couldn't help laughing.

"Gabrielle," Xena drawled her name in a wary tone. "Just what are you  
thinking of doing? You've been the least willing of all four of us to  
act directly against Ares or Callisto."

"And I'm still against any of us facing off with those two. It  
wouldn't be worth the price we'd have to pay, and we all know that.  
Personally, I think we've been the focus of their attention quite  
long enough, don't you?"

"That would seem to be the problem in a nutshell." Xena acknowledged,  
as Hercules nodded agreement and Iolaus began to grin. "Well, what I  
think is just . . isn't it about time they had a different focus for  
so much time and effort and energy?"

"Now, wait Gabrielle!" Hercules protested. "We can't send those two  
off to attack some other undeserving innocents. I can't believe you  
would. ."

"Herc, wait. I don't think that's what she's saying." Iolaus  
interrupted his partner. "Is it, Gabby?"

"No, of course not. Thanks, Iolaus. What I'm suggesting is that it's  
about time Ares and Callisto picked on someone their own size, as it  
were. In other words, on each other. Surely that would keep them busy  
enough to leave us alone for the gods know how long. Isn't that  
what we all want?" the bard asked her friends, scanning their faces  
carefully for reactions.

"Sometimes." Hercules answered. "And sometimes I just want to beat  
their heads together and leave them to deal with the headaches. But  
maybe I still don't understand, Gabrielle, are you saying we should  
just let this all hang fire?"

Gabrielle shook her head no, wondering why she was having such a hard  
time explaining her idea to the others. She glanced at Xena for help,  
and saw that the warrior understood.

"I don't think that's what she's saying. Gabrielle, aren't you  
suggesting that we should just wind the both of them up and throw  
them at each other? That way they can take each other out, or  
whatever they end up doing. But no matter what happens, we're at a  
safe distance from the fray."

"Yes!" Gabrielle agreed relievedly. "Its something like what you used  
on Gareth and Zagreus' army when they were going to destroy two  
villages that day, and we couldn't get to both. It worked like a  
charm!""

It was a good plan, once I got that flying parchment to work!" Xena  
laughed ruefully. "Uh. . .Xena, flying parchment?" Iolaus asked,  
trying hard not to giggle at the image the words conjured in his  
mind. Only a short while had passed since his skirmish with Callisto  
and any jolting movements still pained him.

"I'll tell you about it another time, Iolaus." Gabrielle promised,  
grinning at the hunter's curiosity. "When it doesn't hurt you to  
laugh, okay?"

"Sure. So, how are we going to send Callisto and Ares after each  
other?"

"Oh that's the beauty part! Its so simple I don't know why I didn't  
think of it days ago, weeks ago, moons ago!"

"What is it, Gabrielle?" her three impatient listeners demanded.

"Okay, I'm gonna tell you, but this has to be between the four of  
us, no one else can know, or they'll be in just as much danger until  
this is completed. No, not Jason, not Alcmene, not anyone but the  
ones most involved. Agreed?"

Three emphatic nods answered the bard and she went on. "All we need  
is a messenger, one who can reach both targets. And the messages we  
send are: Ares, Callisto found the dagger, and you're on her short  
list to try it out on', and Callisto, Ares has the dagger, and he's  
looking to pay you back for Strife's death'. Well, what do you think?"  
Xena grinned at her friend, nodding approval. Iolaus squeezed the  
bard's hands warmly, his eyes lit with appreciation and gratitude for  
her cleverness. Hercules looked at the younger woman, shaking his  
head in amazement.  
"Gabrielle, I never knew you were so. . . crafty! This is a great  
idea, only. . .who's the messenger?"

Gabrielle's face fell as her friends watched. "Well, that's the part  
I hadn't quite worked through, yet." She admitted.

"It has to be someone they each trust, as much as they trust anyone."  
Xena suggested.

 "Or it could be someone they don't have any reason to distrust.

 If there is such a person." Iolaus offered.

"Or it could be someone they don't trust at all, in disguise.

Which do you think would be best?" Gabrielle asked the others.

"It also has to be someone they can't hurt."

Hercules immediately responded. "Don't forget that part. What else  
have we been talking about? Getting them to stop hurting people."

"Someone two immortals can't hurt. That would have to be another  
immortal, wouldn't it?" Xena added.

"At least another immortal would stand a chance, especially if it  
were just a matter of flashing in, giving our messages and y'know,  
flashing out again." Iolaus suggested.

"And we're still not answering the question, who?' " Hercules  
reiterated, glumly. "Which of the gods, or other immortals would  
agree to be our messenger service?"

"You sure know how to rain on a bard's parade." Gabrielle grumbled at  
the demigod.

"It's not what I'm trying to do, Gabrielle." Hercules replied, "But I  
haven't been thinking very clearly lately; as someone pointed out  
last night. I need to exercise more caution, especially where the  
lives of my closest friends are concerned. Isn't that what you've  
been trying to tell me?"

"Yeah, so there's a problem. Lets think it through."

."Gabrielle, lets hear a list of the Olympians, and maybe we can find  
one who will actually prove helpful, if we ask politely." Xena  
demanded.

"Sure. There's Zeus, of course he's usually not available and it  
hardly seems fitting to ask him to carry messages. Of course Hera and  
Ares aren't even to be considered. That leaves Athena, Apollo, Cupid,  
Aphrodite, and Hermes, who might be a good choice. And after that, of  
course you have Artemis, Poseidon, Demeter, Persephone, Hephaestus,  
Themis, Dionysus, Hades and Hestia. Most people only list twelve  
Olympians, but I try to be as complete as possible. "Gabrielle took a  
deep breath and sat down beside Xena, looking as discouraged now as  
she'd been excited minutes before.

"Hercules, you know the immortals better than we do. Do you think  
any of them would agree to help us?" Xena asked her friend.  
"I know we've helped a number of them in the past." The son of Zeus  
reminded her. "And sometimes they even admit it. But let me think:  
Zeus, well the last time we talked he thought I wasn't grateful  
enough for what he'd already done. And he avoids interfering with  
Ares whenever possible.

Athena, doesn't like to hear this, but the truth is she's pretty much a daddy's girl.

 She goes along with whatever Zeus says, unless they take opposite sides in a war.

She might be willing to help out of respect for you, Xena. Apollo, I'm not so sure.

He's hardly spoken to me since I decided I didn't want to give up my humanity.

 If this involved a beautiful girl, a demigoddess or a nymph, he'd be interested;

otherwise it's too much of a challenge. Cupid wasn't too happy with me for a while,

but I think that got straightened out. He's still got his hands full with raising Bliss,

last I heard." Hercules smiled, remembering what Xena and Gabrielle had mentioned about

the love god's trickster infant son.

"Aphrodite is very fond of you, Hercules. But I don't think she very  
often feels like doing Gabrielle or myself any favors. So, I'd say  
that leaves her out." Xena added, taking up the thought process,  
while Hercules went to get Iolaus some willow bark tea. "And  
Hephaestus is still madly in love with the love goddess. So I doubt  
he'd help mortals who were in disfavor with her."

"Hades is tired of seeing either one of us," Iolaus laughed somewhat  
grimly, taking the warm cup from his friend. "He won't be in a  
helpful mood, anyway, I'd guess. Thanks, Herc."

"No, because Demeter has her daughter home this time of year. She's  
not going to drop what she's doing to send messages. Believe me when  
I say, it was hard enough to get her to agree Persephone should spend  
part of the year with Hades." Hercules recalled.

"So, that leaves us with Poseidon, Hermes, Themis, Dionysus, Artemis and Hestia."

Gabrielle recounted, frowning. "And I can tell you for certain, we're not in favor

with Poseidon. Nor is he in any great favor with me! I've seen enough of the topside,

 inside and undersides of boats to last . . .Well, it seemed like a good idea!" the bard  
complained. "But we're running out of gods!"

"Gabrielle, its a fine idea." Xena encouraged her. "We could try  
almost any of the ones we have left. Hermes, he's the god of  
messengers, isn't he? I can't think of anything we've done to alienate  
him."

"Well, there was that time we switched the crossroads sign."  
Gabrielle unhelpfully suggested. "And there were those times we  
blocked otherwise passable roads with rock slides so that some bad  
guys or others couldn't get at us as fast or as soon. But hey, we  
were just trying to help, right?"

"You know, this is getting really depressing. Aren't there any gods  
on our side?" Iolaus wondered aloud.

"I'm sure there must be. Although talking it through doesn't make our  
track record sound too good." Hercules grinned tautly.

 "And there's still the matter of which god could approach Callisto or Ares

with the message, without raising their suspicions."

"Well, now, Uncle, who do you think could just drop in on both of  
those two troublemakers without getting their suspicions up?" a  
girlish voice, straining to sound womanly replied, causing all four  
friends to turn and look towards the doorway. There they found a  
magically young looking female figure, dressed head to heels in black  
hunting clothes, with black curls spilling around her pale, angular  
face. If it were not for the air of phantasm that clung to her, she  
would have looked like nothing so much as a half starved and outcast  
waif.

"Discord." Hercules warily acknowledged the young goddess of  
chaos. "And just why, other than for your own love of trouble, would  
you bother causing trouble between Ares and Callisto? Surely you're  
not interested in helping us?"

"You're being unjust, brother. I will always help when I'm called  
upon." came the answer, but the voice changed with it to a much  
clearer, stronger tone. And in a flash of light, her form changed as  
well, to a lithe, agile more mature feminine form, clad in huntress'  
garb of rich forest hues, with a lyre-shaped bow and quiver closely  
strapped to her back. She smiled and shook her head of closely bound  
dark/gilt hair. Then her clear, light brown eyes turned to Iolaus.  
"Are you also surprised that I came to your call, hunter?"

"Lady, . . . Artemis, I think I am. When I didn't take your offer  
that one time, I thought at best you'd ignore me now. But I'm  
grateful for your help. We all are. And obviously you understood  
before I did what kind of help we need from you."

"Well, I do try to pay attention to my Amazon queens." The Huntress  
goddess replied, smiling brightly at Gabrielle, who flushed slightly  
and bowed her head wordlessly. "She wasn't sure until a few moments  
ago how I could help, either. Hercules, didn't Alcmene teach you its  
rude to stare, even at your half-siblings?"

"Ah, yes, yes she did. I guess you caught me by surprise, too.  
Artemis, excuse me. I should know you can shape-change, of course.  
But . . ." the demigod shrugged, and fell silent, folding his arms  
across his chest, as if something inside pained him.

" I suppose you could just call it an old Huntress' trick'? Ah,  
brother, I'm sorry, I remind you of that other queen in this garb and  
this form? Believe me, I wasn't thrilled with Hera when she took over  
that tribe of Amazons, either. Wait." A third time the figure before their

eyes shifted in a flash of light almost too swift to see. Now Artemis stood

revealed as the lunar goddess, despite its being full daylight, gowned

in a chiton and sandals of glimmering silver, her night-dark hair loosely flowing with

a shock of silver hair springing from her brow.  
"Is that better?" She got no answer in words, instead Gabrielle  
silently bent down on one knee to the goddess who protected all  
Amazons. Only rarely in the past few years had she felt such  
reverence, and such gratitude towards an Olympian, any Olympian.

Xena stepped back and held her breath, seeing and feeling the serene,  
unquestionable power radiating from this gracious figure. She knew  
where she'd felt something like it before now, twice before, in the  
company of a slave woman and of a concubine, neither of whom ever  
felt themselves as powerless as those roles suggested to the rest of  
the world. Iolaus sat back, knowing full well his jaw had dropped and  
his eyes were held fast to the vision. His cheeks felt wet, and he  
put one hand up, to find that he was weeping with relief that the  
Huntress had come to his call. Hercules looked at his friends and  
back at his half sister, one he rarely dealt with, one he hadn't  
given much thought to, until today.

"Iolaus is right." Hercules said. "We are . . .very grateful for your  
help, Artemis. And of course, disguising yourself as Discord . . .that's

perfect. What can I say?"

"Don't say anything, little brother. Just give me one of those big  
hugs you're always sharing with Dite!" Artemis laughed and the whole  
room seemed to shimmer. Obligingly, Hercules gathered her in his arms  
and was surprised again to hear her whisper. "That other queen I  
spoke of, she doesn't know it consciously, brother, but she misses  
you, too. Hera's out of the picture, as far as that's concerned, in  
case you wondered."

"Uh, thanks, thanks for the insight, big sis."

"You're very welcome. Now I'm going to be on my way." Artemis turned  
her shining smile on Iolaus. "If the rest of you will excuse us, I do  
need to speak briefly with this hunter. And Gabrielle, if you'll wait  
for me outside for a few moments? I mean her no harm, warrior."

"Of course not, Lady." Xena nodded, holding herself back from her  
long habit of protecting the bard.

Gabrielle touched hands with Xena to reassure her all was well, and  
then followed Hercules and the warrior princess out into the  
courtyard of Alcmene's home.

"Was there something you need me to do, Lady?" Iolaus asked, his eyes  
wide.

"No, there's something else you need me to do, unless I'm mistaken.  
Something about hiding the deadly article you found? Something about  
keeping it safe until and unless there's an absolutely critical need  
for its use? Isn't that the other favor you need my help with? Or did  
you only call on the Huntress to be your messenger service?"

"Certainly not, Lady!" Iolaus insisted, "I may not be a very reverent  
type, the gods know I rarely pray. But to keep my friends safe, I'd  
do just about anything. I think you know that."

"Iolaus, have a care what promises you make the gods. Some one of us  
make take you at your word, when you least expect it. Well, where is  
this dreadful weapon, and what would you have me do with it?"

"It's under the mattress. I can . . .just reach it. There. Im still  
sore enough that I can get away with keeping anyone from moving me  
too much." Iolaus grimaced as he reached over and pulled out a bundle  
wrapped in coarse woven horse blankets. But when Artemis kept her  
distance and nodded for him to set the object on his bed, there was  
no doubt left in his mind that this was the dagger that could kill a  
god.

"Xena found it. I'm honestly not clear on where or how. That whole  
fight with Callisto is pretty much a blur to me. She moved so fast,  
it was like fighting a whirlwind. I thought I was going to die. I  
would have, if not for Gabrielle. I didn't want Hercules to get his  
hands on this blasted thing if that happened. Nor did Xena. He would  
have gotten himself killed avenging my death on Callisto and Ares.  
Xena and I have been racking our brains trying to think of a  
reasonable hiding place for the dagger, with no luck. Here's the  
problem as I see it: the blade is too dangerous to leave lying around  
and too temptingly dangerous to keep. Someone needs to hide it and  
someone has to know how to find it if there's a real need. Can you  
help us with this?" Iolaus asked the goddess.

"Help you with a certain dagger?" Hercules clear, commanding voice  
rang through the room as the son of Zeus strode in, his face taut. "A  
dagger poisoned with the blood of a golden hind? Iolaus, its a good  
thing you're flat on your back because right now I feel like knocking  
you on your. . ."

"Hercules, stop." Xena called, walking in immediately behind him,  
with Gabrielle on her heels. The warrior wordlessly acknowledged  
Artemis still present, and then pulled Hercules around to face her.  
The bard hurried to stand between Iolaus and the others, feeling it  
was still her duty to protect him, even here and now.

"It was my idea as much as Iolaus' to keep the dagger hidden at least

 in the short term. And I apologize for keeping that secret. I made a snap decision.

It's an old habit, one I'm slowly learning to break. Can you accept that?"

"Hercules, in almost any other case in the past few moons I would be  
just as angry as you, about being kept in the dark." Gabrielle said,  
catching the big man's attention with her quiet tone and steady  
voice. "But when you returned to camp that day, when you learned what  
happened to Iolaus, you were more furious than I've ever known you to  
be. You were ready and willing to kill Callisto, and Ares, even to  
kill anyone who got in your way, it seemed.

I think you need to remember that and ask yourself; what would y

ou have done if you'd had this dagger at hand? And what would the other gods

 have done to you?"

"My young queen speaks wisely, brother." Artemis interjected. "If you  
survived such an attack on Ares, you would be tried and condemned by  
most of the Olympians. Hera's and Ares' wrath has beset you most of  
your life, Hercules. Would you have the rest of them turn against you  
as well?"

"The rest of them, sister?" Hercules asked the Hunter. "Are you  
saying I would not face your wrath as well if I'd slaughtered our  
brother Ares for pure revenge?"

"I'm saying even Ares will have to answer for his deeds, the Fates  
only know when or how. I feel no need to pretend tenderness towards  
the one who pollutes my woodlands and streams with the stench of his  
wars." Artemis shook her head, wrinkled her nose in disgust and for a  
moment reminded Hercules of Aphrodite. "

"I couldn't agree more." Hercules nodded. "Iolaus, Xena, you were  
right to keep that blasted thing away from me that day. And  
Gabrielle, you're right, you've been right from the start, we can't  
get anywhere going down the path Ares wants us to tread. You were  
all right and I was wrong. By the gods, I hate it when that happens!  
So, where are we going now? Artemis, how can you help us with a  
weapon that's too dangerous to keep and too dangerous to leave  
behind?"

"Help you with something that can kill a god? Will you trust me  
to do that? Our siblings haven't dealt very well with you, I know.  
Can you trust me?" Artemis' clear brown eyes studied him intently,  
waiting his answer.

"I can and I will." Hercules agreed. "Take the dagger, Artemis. Take  
it as far away as you can, so I can't commit fratricide unless it  
becomes absolutely necessary."

"Then hold that out for me, if you will, for as long as you can,  
Iolaus, hold it at arms' length. Hercules, you can help him if you  
want." Artemis closed her eyes and held her hands above the bundled  
artifact. With gestures swift as birds' wings, her hands swept around  
the parcel, until it was wrapped again in a layer of light. Smiling  
at the hunter, since he had closed his eyes as well, the goddess  
lightly touched his shoulder, his bruised forehead and his  
side.

 "That should suffice for the short term, anyway. I'll take  
charge of it now, Iolaus. Xena, Gabrielle, this will be very  
carefully hidden among my own weaponry within my temple in Thessaly.

If you take this token, or give it to a trustworthy bearer, my  
priestess there will give up the dagger, and to none other.  
Understand me well, without this token, no matter who goes asking at  
my temple for this deadly thing, they shall not have it." Artemis  
pressed a bronze pendant in the shape of a moon-bow, hanging from a  
smooth suede cord, into the hunter's hand.  
"Now rest, golden hunter, you have more than done your duty by your  
friends."

"Um, uh, yeah, I think I'll get some sleep, now." Iolaus agreed, too  
tired suddenly to wonder why he was suddenly so tired. In moments he  
was deeply asleep, the pendant firmly clasped in his left hand.  
Seeing him sleep, Artemis motioned for Gabrielle to join her outside,  
while the other two kept vigil within. With one incredibly gentle  
hand, the goddess brushed the bard's straying hair out of her eyes  
and locked gazes with the mortal woman.

"You are truly making me proud, my young queen. You don't seem to  
know it, but you are growing with every step on this journey. What  
you said to my younger brother is still true; you have survived much.  
You can, if need be survive more. You have learned much. And when the  
chance comes, you'll learn more. You have loved much. You will, when  
need arises, love still more. I am very proud of you, and so should  
you be." Artemis surprised Gabrielle by pulling her into a quick  
embrace and letting her go again. "Now, go back to your friends, they  
need your strength and your love."


	11. Chapter 11

**Epilogue: Some days later:**

"So, when were you going to tell me about finding the dagger, Xena?"  
Hercules demanded of the warrior, as they walked off another  
sumptuous supper of Alcmene's.

"Just about when I did. I was just waiting for you to start thinking  
clearly again. In fact, I relied on Iolaus' judgment for that." She  
answered.

"So he ratted me out, did he?" the demigod laughed.

"He said he could tell you still weren't ready. You were still  
reacting, still furious by the time we got here and it would be best  
to wait a few more days, or weeks or years . . ." Xena grinned as her  
tall friend grimaced at the exaggeration. "Any case, he's known you  
far longer than I, so I took him at his word. Shouldn't I have?"

"Yeah, I suppose. But that just leads me to another question. When  
you decided to tell me, Iolaus wasn't in the courtyard with us. What  
made you decide it was finally safe for me to know the weapon I  
could use against Callisto, or Ares, or both if I was fast enough,  
was in my mother's house under a mattress?"

"Hercules, you'd just then agreed to Artemis delivering our messages  
to our mutual disadmiration society. You agreed it was a better plan.  
Iolaus was watching your face, when he wasn't gawking at Artemis.  
When I caught his eye, he nodded. That was our signal. He was sure  
you were ready to make the right choice, the hard choice; not to  
act on your anger, not to step any further down that road."

"Maybe the hardest choice I've made in a long time. But I did. I have  
no desire to become what Ares' wants me to be, anymore than you do."  
Hercules admitted, studying her intense, beautiful face. "But you  
know exactly what I mean, don't you? You make it every day, don't  
you, Xena?"

"Naw," she teased him to take the tension out of the air between  
them. "Its more like once a week these days. And it's still blasted  
hard. Without Gabrielle and a few other friends. . Like you." Xena  
pummeled him on the arm and laughed ingenuously, obviously feeling  
free of some burden she'd been carrying around.

"So, is this how it feels to be you, Xena?" Hercules smiled as he  
asked the warrior, wanting so badly to brush his hand along her cheek  
that he almost had to sit on his hands to stop the gesture. The time  
had long passed for them, she'd told him, and he knew she was right.  
But a sweet, sad ache remained behind. "Choosing all the time,  
watching all the time for that one **misstep**?"

"No, more like watching all the time for that one **missed step!"**  
Gabrielle laughed as she joined them. "Iolaus is sleeping like a well  
fed hog, which hardly surprises me, considering how much of your  
mother's roast pork he ate at supper. Y'know, you two walk awfully  
fast. Fortunately, I've had lots of practice keeping up."

"Yes, I know, Gabrielle. But by this time, I know you don't think the  
whole world should slow down to accommodate you." Xena joked with the  
younger woman.

"No, I only think the world should provide more and softer places to  
rest when my legs give out. That reminds me, Hercules, did Xena  
bother to tell you about the time I nearly managed one of those flips  
she does, without the staff in place, on my first try? It took her  
300 tries to do the same thing, y'know, without the staff. Its quite  
a story, really, with a great finish. You see, I had the whole move  
broken down into its basic elements, and . . ."

Hercules and Xena waited patiently until Gabrielle closed her eyes as  
usual when going into bard-mode. Then they exchanged glances, nodded  
and strode away from their friend as fast as two pairs of long legs  
could take them.

"How good did you say she was at catching up?" Hercules asked Xena  
when he stopped long enough to take a deep breath.

"Pretty blasted good at it. She's had to be, to keep up with me, of  
course." The warrior responded, looking over her shoulder to where  
the bard still stood reciting. At this distance neither Hercules nor  
Xena could see Gabrielle's expressions, but her eyes were closed, her  
voice rose and fell dramatically, and her hands gesticulated as  
eloquently as her words.

"Then we'd better get moving, hadn't we?"

"Give her another moment to really get into bard mode. After that  
happens she won't move for an hour unless someone knocks her over.  
She almost entrances herself." Xena smiled, then she whirled, hearing  
an all too familiar whistle and an answering whinny. Before either  
the warrior or her companion could move, a beautiful golden horse  
came running from Alcmene's stables, directly to the bard. After  
feeding Argo something she took out of her rucksack, Gabrielle swung  
gracefully onto the palomino's back and urged the mare on to where  
Xena and Hercules stood transfixed.

Smiling sunnily, the bard slid off Argo's bare back and handed a  
piece of fruit to both the warrior woman who glowered darkly at her  
and the demigod who was trying not to grin.

"Apples," Gabrielle nodded happily. "just nice, fresh pieces of apple.  
Works like a charm. Oh, you'd better feed them to her right away. She  
knows they're for her, don't you, girl?" Gabrielle stroked the mare's  
velvety nose and seemed to be lost in thought for a moment.

"Now, where was I? Oh, yes, I very carefully calculated how the jump  
spin works, broke down each element, figured the trajectory, the  
height, everything. But I started on the wrong foot. . . "

Hercules laughed and sat down, waving one arm to indicate a place for  
Xena beside him. With a shrug the warrior gave up the struggle,  
hugged Argo's head and sat down to listen to an adventure that  
Gabrielle somehow made sound new and fresh, even though they'd both  
lived the words she spoke.

**Another Beginning **


End file.
